英語(yǔ)寓言故事：詢樓捕蟬

　　One day, Confucius led his disciples to the State of Chu. When crossing a stretch of forest, they saw a hunchbacked old man standing under a tree, catching cicadas with a bamboo stick. With each stroke he caught one cicada, just as easily as picking it up at will. Confucius asked: "You are very skillful at catching cicadas. You must have followed some pattern."

　　"That's right!”the old man answered. "The cicada is a clever little insect. It would fly away at themere rustling of leaves in the wind. Therefore, to catch cicadas, one must, first of all, train one's hand to hold the bamboo stick without shaking. When 2 pellets are put on the top of the bamboo stick and do not fall off, one has certain assurance in catching cicadas; when 3 pellets are put there and do not fall off, only one cicada out of ten can manage to escape; when 5 pellets are put there and do not fall off, then catching cicadas is as easy as picking them up at will."

　　He then added: "But that is not enough. One must be good at hiding oneself. Now I am standing under a tree, just like half of a tree stump, with my arm stretching out like part of awithered twig. Last of all, one must be attentive. When I am catching cicadas, I don't think at all of the vastness of the universe, nor do I look at the numerous things around. I only see the two wings of the cicada. No matter what happens, nothing will distract my attention. As I manage to accomplish all these, I can be so skillful at catching cicadas."

　　Hearing this, Confucius turned to his disciples and said: "Whatever you do, only when youpersevere with concentrated attention and devotion, can you achieve the acme of perfection. This is the truth that this hunchbacked old man has taught us."

　　一天，孔子帶著弟子去楚國(guó)。穿過一片樹林的時(shí)候，他們看到一位駝背老人站在樹下，手拿竹竿捕蟬，一粘一只，就像隨手拾來一樣容易。孔子問：“您捕蟬捕得這么熟練，一定掌握了什么規(guī)律吧?”

　　老人回答說：“是啊!蟬是一種非常乖巧的小蟲。一有風(fēng)吹草動(dòng)，它就飛掉了，所以要捕蟬，首先要練得手拿竹竿不晃動(dòng)。一直練到在竹竿頂端放兩顆彈丸不掉下來的時(shí)候，捕蟬就有了一定的把握;當(dāng)放三顆彈丸不掉下來的時(shí)候，捕十只蟬只會(huì)逃走一只;當(dāng)放五顆彈丸不掉下來的時(shí)候，捕蟬就像隨手拾取一樣容易了。”

　　又說：“不過，這還不夠，還必須善于隱蔽自己。我現(xiàn)在站在樹下，就像是半截子樹樁;伸出去的手臂，就像是一段枯萎的樹枝。最后，還必須用心專一。我捕蟬時(shí)，根本不想天地多么廣大，也不看眾多萬物，只看見蟬的兩只翅膀，不管發(fā)生什么情況，都不會(huì)分散我的注意力。因?yàn)槲夷軌蜃龅竭@些，所以捕蟬才會(huì)這樣熟練。”

　　孔子聽了，回頭對(duì)他的弟子說：“無論做什么事情，只有鍥而不舍，專心致志，才能達(dá)到這樣出神人化的境界。這就是這位駝背老人告訴我們的道理。”

　　1 disciples

　　n.信徒( disciple的名詞復(fù)數(shù) );門徒;耶穌的信徒;(尤指)耶穌十二門徒之一

　　參考例句：

　　Judas was one of the twelve disciples of Jesus. 猶大是耶穌十二門徒之一。

　　"The names of the first two disciples were --" “最初的兩個(gè)門徒的名字是——”

　　2 standing

　　n.持續(xù)，地位;adj.永久的，不動(dòng)的，直立的，不流動(dòng)的

　　參考例句：

　　After the earthquake only a few houses were left standing.地震過后只有幾幢房屋還立著。

　　They're standing out against any change in the law.他們堅(jiān)決反對(duì)對(duì)法律做任何修改。

　　3 catching

　　adj.易傳染的，有魅力的，迷人的，接住

　　參考例句：

　　There are those who think eczema is catching.有人就是認(rèn)為濕疹會(huì)傳染。

　　Enthusiasm is very catching.熱情非常富有感染力。

　　4 mere

　　adj.純粹的;僅僅，只不過

　　參考例句：

　　That is a mere repetition of what you said before.那不過是重復(fù)了你以前講的話。

　　It's a mere waste of time waiting any longer.再等下去純粹是浪費(fèi)時(shí)間。

　　5 rustling

　　n. 瑟瑟聲，沙沙聲 adj. 發(fā)沙沙聲的

　　參考例句：

　　the sound of the trees rustling in the breeze 樹木在微風(fēng)中發(fā)出的沙沙聲

　　the soft rustling of leaves 樹葉柔和的沙沙聲

　　6 stump

　　n.殘株，煙蒂，講演臺(tái);v.砍斷，蹣跚而走

　　參考例句：

　　He went on the stump in his home state.他到故鄉(xiāng)所在的州去發(fā)表演說。

　　He used the stump as a table.他把樹樁用作桌子。

　　7 withered

　　adj. 枯萎的，干癟的，(人身體的部分器官)因病萎縮的或未發(fā)育良好的 動(dòng)詞wither的過去式和過去分詞形式

　　參考例句：

　　The grass had withered in the warm sun. 這些草在溫暖的陽(yáng)光下枯死了。

　　The leaves of this tree have become dry and withered. 這棵樹下的葉子干枯了。

　　8 twig

　　n.小樹枝，嫩枝;v.理解

　　參考例句：

　　He heard the sharp crack of a twig.他聽到樹枝清脆的斷裂聲。

　　The sharp sound of a twig snapping scared the badger away.細(xì)枝突然折斷的刺耳聲把獾驚跑了。

　　9 attentive

　　adj.注意的，專心的;關(guān)心(別人)的，殷勤的

　　參考例句：

　　She was very attentive to her guests.她對(duì)客人招待得十分周到。

　　The speaker likes to have an attentive audience.演講者喜歡注意力集中的聽眾。

　　10 persevere

　　v.堅(jiān)持，堅(jiān)忍，不屈不撓

　　參考例句：

　　They are determined to persevere in the fight.他們決心堅(jiān)持戰(zhàn)斗。

　　It is strength of character enabled him to persevere.他那堅(jiān)強(qiáng)的性格使他能夠堅(jiān)持不懈。

　　11 acme

　　n.頂點(diǎn)，極點(diǎn)

　　參考例句：

　　His work is considered the acme of cinematic art. 他的作品被認(rèn)為是電影藝術(shù)的巔峰之作。

　　Schubert reached the acme of his skill while quite young. 舒伯特的技巧在他十分年輕時(shí)即已達(dá)到了頂峰。